S01E19 - The Future Structure of Employee Relations

Welcome to the Wild Side, a podcast that discusses the world of modern employee relations ten minutes at a time. This podcast is about measuring employee engagement. In this episode, host Alan Wild offers insight on where the world of employee relations and employee engagement interface. Alan is the Global Affairs Director of the HR Policy Association, the leading voice of chief human resources offices today.

In the past 30 years, much has changed concerning employee voice. In the old days of labor relations, many companies saw trade unions and Shop stewards as a kind of industrial interpreter. As time passed, management began speaking directly with employees and employee attitude surveys emerged. Two streams of worker voice management began to emerge. One with union workforces and the other with non-union workforces. Labor Relations and Employee Relations roles emerged as two distinct disciplines. With the advent of technology and social networks, two worlds of employee listening and response came together, and the worlds of employee relations and employee engagement merged. Let’s focus on how, in these millennial times, we can use listening and responding tools to get ahead of the game.

Key Takeaways: 

• Thoughts on the annual IBM Employee Satisfaction Survey. [3:25]
• Defining employee engagement. [5:27]
• Tips for creating a census survey as part of a broader plan for listening and responding. [6:08]
• The use of technology for real-time reporting. [8:38]
• Measure engagement by administering frequent, short, pulse surveys. [9:30] 
• Identify the employees whose posts get the most amplification. [10:58]
• Get ahead of collective claims or grievances by listening and responding as retailers do. [12:40]